


Two by Two

by Kris



Category: Firefly
Genre: Community: rounds_of_kink, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-06-08
Updated: 2008-06-08
Packaged: 2017-10-12 10:16:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/123824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kris/pseuds/Kris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>prompt: River's not the only one who's been messed with</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two by Two

**Author's Note:**

> for rounds of kink  
> beta read by Ash/Jack Vale

Two days out from Boros, River throws the first fit she's had in ages. She screams and kicks and breaks things, she babbles on and on about ‘Two by Two’ and ‘Hands of Blue’ and when Simon gets too close to her with a smoother she strikes out and leaves scratches from her nails all down the side of her brother's neck.

Simon says things like 'sorry' and 'she didn't mean to break that' and 'it won't happen again, Captain, I promise.' Jayne says really unhelpful things like 'no you ain't' and 'yes she did' and 'gorram it, where the hell is Kaylee, it's her turn to cook the grub.' Mal just tries to ignore the whole thing.

He tries to ignore the howling coming from below decks when they go to land on Boros too, can't for the life of him figure out why the girl don't want them to land but there's cargo down there to be gotten and it'll fetch a pretty price on Whitefall when Patience hears about it. Provided the damned fool woman don't shoot him again.

"You're coming with me," he says and Simon's eyes widen with fear. Boy don't get off the ship much at all, it would be a titch disturbing if it weren't for the fact that he's still a refugee. "Don't start," Mal warns when the other man goes to speak. "You keep that mouth shut and you come into town, we'll stop at the doctor's and see if they have anything you can use." Granted Boros is a small outer rim planet, but the way they've been going through smoothers, it'll be damned likely that they'll need a new stock right away.

Simon swallows and in a corner of Mal's brain he watches the motion with interest. "Right," Simon stutters. "Let me… I'll just… Go get my bag," and he runs off. Mal rolls his eyes heavenward and waits. He's prettier than he has any right to be, brainier than he has any right to be, and completely insufferable. 

"The Doc, huh? I wouldn't have thought you'd go for the pretty boy," Zoe smirks at him from the catwalk and Mal studiously ignores her stare and her words in favour of bellowing for Simon to hurry the hell up.

Small is an understatement when it comes to Boros. Small usually means ten thousand, twenty thousand people, an entire colony. Boros has maybe five thousand at max. "I don't understand," Simon says, voice quiet in the street. "Are the people here sick? Or afraid of visitors?" Mal shakes his head.

"Just too far out for most," Mal says. They stop in the medical facilities and Mal lets Simon stock up on a bit before he heads his doctor off at the pass and pays the irritated looking clerk.

"Come on, Doc," he says. "We still have to meet up with our supplier, arrange pick up of the cargo and get the hell off this rock by sunset." 

"Why sunset?" Because you look real pretty in the moonlight and I think I might kiss you, Mal thinks.

"I get squirrelly, I get stuck on land longer than a day," Mal lies and shoves the door of the bar open. Simon stumbles behind him in the sudden dark after being in the bright sun all day. They take a booth in the corner and Mal settles in to watch the door. Simon sits and twitches his fingers on the table. Mal's eyes track Simon's tongue when it darts out to wet his lips.

"You alright there, Simon?" Mal asks. Simon blinks at him.

"What?" he asks.

"You're getting a mite bit worked up sitting there, there a problem I should be aware of?"

"Um no, just," Simon pauses, frowns and shakes his head. "No. I'm just nervous, this is taking an awfully long time, isn't this taking an awfully long time?" It's probably the cute befuddled thing that finally gets to Mal, he never could help himself when the pretties got all turned around and confused. He leans forward and catches the back of Simon's neck, pulls him gently until Simon is practically stretched across the table and then kisses him. It's not the best as kisses go, the angle is awkward, Simon is startled and the man at the table next to them hollers about something or other. Behind the bar something breaks. But when Mal lets go and Simon sinks back into his chair, the anxious look is gone, replaced by a stunned wide-eyed look that Mal vows to put back on that face the minute they get back to the ship.

"Did you just kiss me?" Simon asks.

"Yes, and I plan on doing it again later, when we get back to the ship. I plan on doing a whole lot. That seem like an idea to you?" There's a small, pleased smile at the corner of Simon's mouth.

"Hold that thought," Mal orders him and then everything goes to hell. Mal can't rightly say what happened or the order it all came in, but one second the Martinez brothers walk in, the next second the law walks in behind them and the Martinez brothers pull their guns.

Someone spots Mal, someone shouts something, someone else is there suddenly at his elbow trying to cuff him and Mal looks over at Simon in worry because it would be that the one time he finally decides to take something for himself, the world comes to a gorram end.

It's like it was all a dream. Simon’s looking at him, head cocked to the side in a funny way that Mal's seen on River a time or two when the girl says something that makes Mal's insides shiver a bit in fear and then two steps to the left and Simon's snapped the neck of the man holding Mal to the table.

There's screaming and crashing and a gun goes off, Simon is in the middle of it all and people who come near him are flying like ragdolls in a way Mal's only ever seen at a demonstration on Shadow that time years and years ago when a dojo had stopped by for supplies and then something crashes on his head. Typical.

He comes to and without opening his eyes he knows he's on Serenity. Course, could have something to do with the way Zoe's shaking him.

"Captain, Mal, you need to wake up now," Mal shoves his eyes open and stares at her.

"Don't," he argues, he doesn't need to be up now, his head feels like he's been in a fight, why the hell does he need to get up? Zoe raises an eyebrow and Mal reckons most of that was out loud.

"We don't know what's wrong with Simon," she says and when Mal turns his head the Tam siblings are sitting on the second cot in the med bay. Simon is staring down at his hands, cut and bleeding, River is wrapping them and murmuring nonsense to him. She's glaring daggers at Mal. 

“Two by two, always," River says and not for the first time Mal wonders how Simon got River out of her hell so easily.

"Wasn't easy," River answers his unasked question, head cocked to the side. "He had to get out first to get back in." Mal's insides shiver a bit in fear


End file.
